Guardian Angel
by TheVideoGamer
Summary: Sequel to "Be My Shadow". You don't have to read that one first because it probably won't be that important for this storyline, but I would suggest it. Now then, after falling in love with Maria but having to kill her himself, Shadow is very broken and unhappy. This is the story of Maria's spirit guiding Shadow through his adventures on the planet Earth.
1. A Crash Landing

_Before I start the story, I'd like to say thank you to Hedgehog of Time for recommending that I make a sequel! I thought it was a great idea, so here we go!_

* * *

I was on my hands and knees, sobbing. Maria was actually dead. Gone forever. "I'm so sorry..." I cried, "I love you!" I could've sworn I felt something touch me, but when I got up and looked around, I was definitely the only inhabitant of the escape pod. I could see flames all around me on the outside of the capsule, casting an orange glow on my quills. Then I felt it again. A warm, soft breeze. It was welcoming, and kind. _Maria?_ I quickly brushed it off. That would be ridiculous. _She's dead._ I reminded myself mentally.

"I promise you. REVENGE!" I threw my head back and laughed maniacally, imagining mutilating humans the way I did on the ARK when they tried to kill us. But then my laughter ceased as I remembered the soldier who shot Maria. Just once, in the stomach. I carried her to the central control room and locked the door. I tried to help her, but there wasn't much I could do. She was bleeding out.

She begged me to put her out of her misery. She didn't want me to remember her like that; pitiful, slowly bleeding out painfully until her death. She wanted me to remember her as the amazing girlfriend that she was. So I took the 9mm gun from a dead soldier's hand, and I shot her as the capsule counted down to take off. I remembered putting a bullet through her head and slamming the escape pod door shut right as it began accelerate into space.

And then I was up to the current point. It hadn't even been a full five minutes since I had last seen her alive. It hadn't even been a full hour before she was in walking condition. It hadn't even been a full six months since I had met her. I wished I could have known her for longer before she was gone.

I would have continued the thought, but the capsule began to shake violently and I knew I was about to land. I tried my best to see around the flames, and from what I could tell I was headed straight for the middle of the ocean. Great. Slowly, small land formations began to come into my range of vision. I was pretty sure Maria called them islands and isles.

Rapidly, I grew closer and closer, features like trees getting bigger and bigger, until _BOOM!_ I hit an island head-on, losing consciousness on impact.

-XXX-

I woke up who knows how many hours later, and immediately felt a splitting headache. I tried to grab my head, but then I realized that my hands and feet were pinned down by rubble. I lifted my head slightly and looked around, realizing that I must have hit something on my way down, because none of the Professor's inventions would normally malfunction this much. Then I looked up and saw something that amazed me. Trees towered over me, these giant bushels of green that grew into the sky, and beyond that, endless shades of blue. I had to squint because the sun was so bright, and some kind of animal pack was flying in the sky. Then, just slightly behind a cloud but still visible, I could see the Space Colony ARK, where Maria's body was probably still laying.

A tear ran down my face, but I tried to remain strong, because I needed to get out from under this debris. With a grunt, I pulled my hands free and sat up, beginning to pull the metal off of my legs. It took a minute, but it was times like this that I was really glad to be the Ultimate Life Form. Once getting up and dusting myself off, I began to walk and walk and walk. I wandered aimlessly for hours, without a sense of direction. I just wanted to find some sign of civilization at this point, even if it meant having to face those pathetic humans.

-XXX-

After a while, I saw something come into the distance. It looked like a giant building of some sort, with security cameras lining the fences and barbed wire shrouding it in mystery. "hmm..." I mumbled to myself, "I guess there could be humans here, but what an odd-looking place..."

Suddenly, I heard an adult male yell, "Hey! There he is!"

Before I could fully understand what was happening, a bunch of humans dressed in GUN outfits came charging toward me. I held up my right hand and a crackling green Chaos Spear solidified, but that only made them pull their guns on me. The Chaos Spear dissipated and faded to nothing in my hand as I looked down at myself, seeing the now ripped and dirty bandages that had been put on me not too long ago for a gunshot wound.

Deciding I didn't want to get shot twice, I asked them, "What do you want from me?"

"We want you dead!" One replied, cocking his gun and aiming it at me again, "You made a bad decision, escaping from the ARK."

"Why? What have I done that was so wrong?"

"You're a threat to humanity!" One yelled, "You're too dangerous!"

"I'm too dangerous? This is coming from the species that overpopulated the earth, killed off many other animals to extinction, and is currently causing global warming, and I'm the dangerous one?" I was getting this completely out of the books that Maria used to read to me. In fact, I knew so much about Earth, just by hanging around her, that I probably knew more than someone who had been living there for a lifetime. Unfortunately, what I didn't realize was that talking to me was just giving another soldier the chance to sneak up behind me and hit me in the head with his gun. "Ugh!" I yelled, falling to the ground, unconscious again.


	2. Wasted Effort

I could tell I'd regained consciousness, but I couldn't see a thing, and my hands were stuck behind me. I was pretty sure I was tied to a chair with a bag over my head. "What is this, some kind of horror movie?!" I screamed angrily, but the fabric covering my face muffled it slightly. The only reply I got was a man in a navy blue uniform pulling the bag off of me. I looked him up and down, assuming he was pretty important, because there were badges and medals pinned all over his jacket.

"Welcome to prison island."

"Screw your island. I'm leaving this place."

He snickered. "Sorry, but that's not an option."

"What _is_ an option, then?"

"Cooperating," he slowly approached me and bent down so that we were at eye level. "and not cooperating."

I spat in his face. He flinched and wiped it off, an angry snarl forming. "What happens if I don't play by your damn rules?" I asked, meeting his amount of anger. I was actually more scared than angry, but I wanted him to be intimidated by me.

He took out a lighter and it wasn't easy to hide my anxiety anymore. He grabbed my struggling left hand and slid off the glove. _Oh God._ I thought. I shut my eyes, not wanting to watch anymore, and suddenly felt an immense surge of pain run through my hand. I could feel the flames licking at my skin as I gritted my teeth and tried not to scream. At the moment I didn't care what Maria had told me; humans were monsters.

Then with a click, the worst of the pain was over, leaving behind a gentler, yet still excruciating sensation. "Torture, and likely death." The man whispered to me. I began to realize that he was answering my question from before.

_What the hell was that?_ I asked myself, inside my head. This was going to be a horrible stay at Prison Island.

-XXX-

Once the military man was gone, I tried to ignore my hand as I scanned the room for a way to break free. The containment unit was square, my chair was facing the door. The walls and floor were all grey metal, and there was a security camera behind me on the right. Next to the door on the left there was also a big rectangular mirror which I assumed to be a one-way window. I'd seen them on the ARK when Maria and I were exploring the laboratories.

It took me the whole afternoon to scoot my chair to the left of the window and swivel around so that my back was to the wall. This way, no one could see behind me. Then I tried to summon a Chaos Spear and break my bindings, but as soon as the crackling green energy appeared in my right hand, two guards came rushing in.

"Do you think we're stupid?" One asked, "We have energy sensors in here!"

I sighed in annoyance. "C'mon, guys. Just let me go before someone gets hurt."

"Should you really be talking?" The other asked, laughing a little. The other joined in with the chuckles as I saw how pitiful I looked. I still had the bandages around myself, not to mention that famous left hand of mine...

I started to get really ticked off by these two, and I was going to use my Chaos Spear on them when I realized that I still had it charged up in my hand. _Idiots..._ I thought as I vaporized the ropes around my hands. Now I just had to get my legs free, which were tied to the legs of the chair. Considering no other guards had come in the room yet, I decided that Dumb and Dumber were the only lookouts this place had given me.

In a fraction of a second, I vaporized the rope around each of my ankles and dashed for the open door. "Not so fast." I heard the all-too-familiar sound of a gun being cocked and groaned, beginning to glow with red.

_BOOM!_

I dodged the bullet that one had fired and, in a high backflip, landed behind them. I crossed my arms over my chest and yelled, "Chaos-"

But then I stopped.

Looking at the way these humans were now fearful and helpless, how they weren't even bothering to shoot anymore, I began to remind myself of what I was here for. What Maria had sent me to Earth for. _Don't kill them._ I begged myself, _Please, do this for her._

I let my aura fade away, and said, "I'll let you go, assuming you won't be telling anyone about this."

They nodded their heads.

"I'm not a monster. Pass it on."

And then I was gone.

Zooming down the hallways at supersonic speed, I began my search for the exit. I stopped though, because I began to hear a voice from a room down the hall. Slowly, I tried not to let my metal skates clank on the floor as I sneaked down to the open doorway. It was a voice that I knew all too well. "Professor..." I whispered.

There he was, Gerald Robotnik, similarly tied to a chair, but he was talking into a camera, saying, "...all you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me..."

I hung around, listening. Maybe, after the guards left, I could brake him out. But then I remembered how he had betrayed me, just because I was in love with Maria. He saw me kiss Maria, and I confessed. Then he led the GUN agents right to me. Drawing in a breath, I tried to leave, but it was too hard. He had created me, raised me, taught me everything from learning to talk, to table manners. I couldn't leave him. I just couldn't. I glanced back into the room again. A guard was asking him if that was all he wanted to say, and he said yes. Then the video camera was shut off and he was untied from the chair. He and the guard began to leave, and so I ran to the other end of the hallway and around the corner. I listened to their footsteps down the hallway until they were out of earshot. Then I sat down on the ground and sighed.

"How'm I gonna get out of here...?" I muttered, my ears drooping.

"Look! He escaped!" I heard someone yell, and I scrambled to my feet. Alarms began to flash and blare as I glided down the hallway on my hover skates. I didn't dare to waste any time, but it made me nervous that the flames emitted from my shoes were leaving black tracks of soot on the floor. They were going to find me, no matter what. As I ran into a lower security area, I began to see barred windows and took that as my chance of escape. I unclipped my inhibitor rings as fast as possible and broke the glass of one window with my fists. Even though my left hand didn't have a glove, I was seemingly made of stone and the glass had no impact on my skin. I quickly began to pry the bars open and was jumping through when someone grabbed me by the leg and tried to pull me back in. I kicked him lightly, but with my infinite flow of Chaos Energy, he flew backward and was knocked out cold after hitting the far wall.

"Yes!" I yelled, crawling out into the sunlight and landing on the ground safely. I put my rings back in place and looked left and right, but not behind me. I was about to kick on my shoes and be free, but then a set of hands, no, two sets of hands, grabbed me and dragged me back inside. I screamed her name, wishing that help would come, but I knew it wouldn't. I was trapped, and now I was going to be to tortured - or killed. "MARIA!"


	3. Her Spirit is with Me

I was thrown to the ground, once inside the building, and looked up to see a mob of soldiers pointing their guns at me. Now I was really scared. _Maria, if you're there, help me..._ I begged, wanting to live another day.

Nothing happened.

So the general/commander/dude from before just walked up to me and said in that raspy, you-wish-he-would-clear-his-throat voice, "Now you're gonna get it, you beast."

_BAM!_

Knocked out again.

-XXX-

I was back in the room. Was this all just going to replay, or was it going to be much worse this time? I just didn't know. This time my head wasn't covered and, to my surprise, I wasn't bound to the chair. Weird. You would think that once I had tried to escape, they would have higher security put on me, but I guess not. Stupid humans...

Then, as if to answer my mental question, the commander walked in with a taser. "You're not tied up this time because it obviously didn't do any good last time." He repeatedly smacked the device against his palm, threatening me with it. "So now we've gone to other methods of discipline."

He turned it on and I watched it crackle with electricity. I bit my lip, trying to keep myself from begging him not to use it. Suddenly, I heard a voice in my head. Not like the type of voice that you get in your head when you're crazy, but a soft, familiar, caring voice that I knew all too well.

"Shadow..." It was Maria.

"Maria?!" I called out, startling the GUN official.

"Shh!" She shushed me, "He'll punish you for acting out too much."

"You're insane, aren't you?" The man asked. "This is why we tried to have you killed on the ARK. You're a threat, a..."

He went on and on, but I wasn't listening.

"Shadow, he's going to use that taser." When I heard Maria say that, my eyes grew wide in fear. "Don't reply to me, just listen. Shadow, hang in there. Show weakness. Scream when he hurts you. It'll make him believe that you're under his control. He'll let his guard down. I'm so sorry, Shadow... I wish there was an easier way."

I was now shaking in fear. How did she know so much? More importantly, how could I hear her?

"Shadow... I love you."

I wished she would stay and talk to me more. I wanted to hear her voice, it would ease my pain, but she didn't come back after that. My head was silent once again.

"Hey, are you listening?" The man asked me.

"I nodded my head."

He knelt down to my level, much like before, and narrowed his eyes. "Then what's my name?"

I gulped, beads of sweat running down my face. "I-I don't know."

"Thought so." He turned the taser back on and hit me right in the stomach with it. I'd rather not even describe the pain to you, but it wasn't even like I could choose to scream or not. It was worse than when I got shot by Della, back on the ARK. I screamed, and I screamed bloody murder.

Eventually, the man stopped. My vision blurred and I fell out of the chair as he turned and began to walk away. He turned back around at the door and stared at me blankly with his sickly green eyes. "My name is Victor."

As soon as he slammed the door shut, I tried to growl in fury, but just couldn't work up the energy to make any noise except a whimper. I laid there on the ground for what felt like hours. Exhausted, I began to give up hope of ever getting out of here.

"Shadow...?" It was Maria again. Relief began to drain back into me and I grabbed the leg of the chair, trying to pull myself to a sitting position.

"Y-yes?" I asked, succeeding to get myself up.

She sounded like she was crying as she said, "I... I saw the whole thing. I'm watching you from the afterlife."

"D-don't worry. I-I'm okay."

"You don't... look okay."

"Well, I a-am."

"I'll figure out a way I can help you!" She promised, "Well, without actually being there."

I forced a smile, hoping it made her feel better. "Heh heh, you do that."

"I will. I'll, I'll be your guardian angel."

I chuckled a little bit, because I realized that the tables had turned. I had never expected _Maria _to be the one protecting _me_.

"How did you know what he was thinking?" I asked.

"Well, honestly, I just assumed it, but having an outside view of a situation gives you a lot of an advantage. Hm, I guess that's how I'll help."

"Yeah, my guardian angel." I tested the words, listened to them being said aloud. Still a little shocking, but nonetheless, I was so happy to have Maria again, even if her body wasn't there.

-XXX-

When Victor came back, I glared at him and growled.

"Careful." Maria told me. I stopped.

"I'm making a decision about you." He said, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me to my feet. My legs shook a little bit, but I managed to stay on my standing as I was forced to leave the room, greeted by a whole new fleet of armed guards on my way into the hallway.

"Will you guys ever just drop the guns for once?" I asked, wondering if I could get them to let their guards down. "You know, I got burned and tased today. Do you know what it's like to be burned and tased?" They all looked at each other for a moment, probably wondering why I was talking to them. "Well, it's not really that easy to _move_ afterwards, so gimme a break."

Obviously, they didn't listen plan to listen, but a few continued to look at each other and one or two lowered their weapons slightly. _Oh my God,_ I thought to myself, _that worked?_

I immediately kneed one guy in the groin and punched another in the stomach. They began to fire, but not without being caught off guard, and I dodged their blindly shot bullets as I took them out one-by-one with homing attacks and Chaos Spears. As the last one fell at my feet, I took a deep breath, but was suddenly interrupted when I was grabbed and spun around. A shockwave of electricity flew into my neck, my whole body went numb and I couldn't breath. I was sent plummeting to the ground next to the guards I'd knocked out. I looked up and saw Victor standing over me, and I felt utterly powerless.

"I've made my decision." He declared, turning the taser back off.

I wanted to growl, or at least whimper, but I couldn't. My throat felt destroyed, and I could only make choking noises and gasp for air, holding my throat.

I heard Maria gasp. "No..." She mumbled.

I remember him calling for assistance on a walkie-talkie, and I was picked up and put on my feet. They had to pretty much drag me to wherever we were going, and as we passed various rooms, I found myself looking in, hoping for a sign of Gerald Robotnik, but I didn't find one. _Maria._ I said in my head, _What are they planning to do?_

"I think... they're going to carry out their original plans for you."

_They're going to kill me?_

"..."

_Maria!_

"I-I don't know for sure!"

_Yes or no! Are they?_

"...Yes."


	4. See You in Fifty Years

A little, concrete room. No mercy. Just dirty, windowless walls and scuffed floors. I remember being thrown onto the ground in there, face-first. I laid on my side for while, trying to recover from all the pain this day has inflicted on me. My hand was so hurt that I didn't even dare try to close it into a fist. I had used it to punch a soldier in the gut after being burned badly with Victor's lighter. My stomach was sore from being tased, and my neck was still throbbing from the afternoon's most recent round of voltage.

I tried not to cry, though. I was the Ultimate Life Form, and it was high time I started acting like it. My whole life was just complain, complain, complain. Now I needed to start taking action. I forced myself to my feet and looked for the video camera. It wasn't in a corner; it was the type that was on the ceiling with a black covering so you couldn't tell where it was pointing. I hoped it had sound, so they could hear me.

"I hate you! All of you! Look what you've done to me!" I held my hands out on either side of me and bared my teeth in a snarl. "You pathetic, cowardly humans! You don't know who you're messing with!"

"Shadow, please calm down." It was her, begging me to stop. "It's not going to help you."

But I didn't stop, because now I had gotten myself winded up. "YOU KILLED HER! GO AHEAD! KILL ME TOO! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!"

"Shadow, please!" I could imagine the tears welling up in her eyes. I could imagine her grabbing me by the hand and looking at me desperately. I wanted to stroke her face and kiss her, but she was dead.

"They took you away from me..." I said under my breath, "You're just a voice in my head now. I don't even know if you really exist!" I walked over to the wall and slammed my good hand against it. My knuckles smacked the hard material, but I couldn't feel it through my rage.

"Get a grip! I'd slap you right now if I had a body!" She screamed at me. "C'mon, Love! Keep your temper down! This could get you killed!"

"Weren't you listening?" I growled, "I don't even care anymore!"

"Dammit Shadow, fulfill my promise! I beg of you!"

I remembered the promise, and took in a shaky breath. It wasn't until then that I realized I was glowing a slight red aura, which began to fade. "Sorry..."

"Just... relax."

I drew in another breath. "...Alright."

A group of guards then bursted into the room and one shot me with a tranquilizer gun, which I was not at all expecting. It hit me immediately in the neck (right where the taser was, yay), and everything began to spin.

"Shadow? Shadow? Stay with me!" Maria called out, "Stay awake!"

"I'm... trying..." I whispered, but my legs gave out and I fell to the floor, my eyes closing soon after.

-XXX-

When I woke, I was on a table with my arms and legs strapped down. People around me were screaming. I lifted my groggy head and saw tubes filled with chemicals that were attached to cords that went into my wrists, but nothing was flowing through the cords. Humans were wearing white lab coats, but they weren't paying me any attention. They continued to yell and argue. It was really strange. I saw the two GUN soldiers from before, standing in the doorway. The ones that couldn't stop me from leaving that other room, when I was tied to that chair.

"He let us go!" They were yelling as they motioned to me, "He said, 'I'm not a monster'. He has a conscience. He could've killed us if he wanted to, but he didn't!"

"Don't let him fool you!" Another was yelling, "He's just a _smart_ monster! That's all!"

I sighed loudly and they all fell silent to look down at me. "Drew!" One shouted, "You idiot! How much anesthesia was in that gun?"

"Enough for a _human_! I made _sure_ he wouldn't wake up!"

"He's Project: Shadow!" The other yelled, "You're comparing him to an average adult male?"

"Uhh..." He stood there for a moment before picking his tranquilizer gun back up. "Oh, should I shoot him again?"

The other nodded at him and "Drew" began to aim at me, when someone raised their hand in protest. Victor.

"I think we should reconsider this."

"But Sir, it was your call in the-"

"That's why I have the power to reconsider."

The room fell silent as we all waited for him to continue. "Maybe, we shouldn't terminate the project. Yet."

The one who was yelling at Drew earlier spoke up. "Wait, you're going to listen to _them_? They're just recruits that don't know anything! He was obviously lying to-"

"Stop." He shut up as Victor gave him a quick glare.

"Look at him. He's intelligent and strong. And if it's true that he has a conscience..." He looked down at me with those horrible eyes that I hated, but I didn't give him a mean look. Just an innocent blink of appreciation. "...then we could use him in our elite forces. Someday. I think we'll have to work on those anger issues though, and, maybe... hm, well, we can make the final tweaks later."

I wasn't sure what he meant by "final tweaks", but all I could think about was that he wasn't going to kill me afterall. I didn't want to be grateful, because he _was_ going to kill me in the first place, but I couldn't help it. He saved my life.

-XXX-

As I was dragged through the halls once again, I continued the search for my traitor of a creator. "What are you looking for?" Maria asked.

_The professor._ I thought.

"Hm..."

She didn't say anything after that, just kept silent until we approached a closed door with a sign to the right of it that said, "CRYOGENICS"

"Shadow..." It startled me when she spoke up again, and I jumped a little, making the guards raise their weapons.

_Yeah?_

"Do you know what cryogenics is?"

_No._

"Hold on, I'll go get a dictionary. I don't know either."

I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The guards were beginning to get disturbed looks on their faces.

_There's a dictionary in my head?_

"No, there's a dictionary in the afterlife." I could hear the flipping of pages, but the sound sort of echoed through my head. It was strange. As I was brought through the doorway, I heard, "Aha! It says, 'The branch of physics dealing with the production and effects of very low temperatures.'"

"Are you going to freeze me to death?" I asked the guard to my right. Not with anger or skepticism, just with curiosity.

"No, we're not going to kill you, remember?" But that's all he said. He probably wasn't supposed to be talking to me in the first place, so I left it at that.

We entered a dark area and had to pass multiple security doors, but when we finally got through, I saw a large machine about as tall as me. It was rectangular and covered in flashing lights and buttons. I waited for the GUN officials around me to do something, but they just stood there, waiting.

The security door opened again, and who walked out? None other than Professor Gerald Robotnik. I gasped. "Professor...?"

"Yes, Shadow." He wouldn't look directly at me, and I wasn't sure if it was because he felt guilty for turning on me, or if he was ashamed of me. He held a giant white jewel in his hand and I was amazed by it. I could feel the energy it gave off, and it felt like my own Chaos Energy.

Just as an experiment, I summoned some Chaos Energy to my good hand, and the soldier that was on my right flinched before aiming his gun, but a few seconds was all I needed. The jewel began to glow with the same power, only it glowed white, not green. I stopped as soon as I felt the shaft of a gun being pressed against my skull. "Okay, okay..." I muttered. "What _is_ that thing?"

"It's a jewel containing the ultimate power." Gerald Robotnik responded. He entered "MARIA" into the machine and set the diamond-like thing into a console. A giant wall gave way and we saw what looked like a giant trench, infested with endless cords and wires. It was very cold, the freezing temperature could be felt from here. A platform began to raise, and once it was level with the ground we were currently standing on, I was pushed onto it.

"What's going on?!" I yelled, growing very cold.

The living didn't respond so I waited for Maria, but she didn't say anything either. I couldn't hear her at all in my head, like she'd left me here.

_Maria? Maria!_

"See you in fifty years." Victor shouted as the platform began to descend.

"No! You can't do this to me! It's not fair!"

"Shadow, you'll be okay."

_Maria! What happened? I couldn't hear you for a moment!_

"My connection with you is growing faint. I think I'm going to have to-"

And then she was gone.

I screamed for someone, anyone, to get me out of there, but nothing happened. I waited for hours, curled up in the corner of that little rectangular chamber, and listened to the chattering of my teeth. After a while, I just gave up, laid on the ground, and waited to die.

But I didn't die.


	5. Waking Up and Tearing Down

_Hey guys! Time for an author's note._

_I'd just like to let you all know that if you haven't played Sonic Adventure 2 Battle (or the original version, but I'm basing this off of battle, because that's the version I have) it might get a little confusing from here on out. Please don't let that turn you away from the story, because I promise it'll all start to piece together. Enjoy!_

* * *

Something woke me. A gust of scorching air blanketed the room and my platform began to raise. The second my eyes opened, I jumped to my feet and looked around cautiously. I thought about what Victor had seemingly _just_ told me. Had it really been fifty years? It felt like I had just laid on the ground, freezing, and closed my eyes.

His voiced echoed through the chamber. Somebody had jumped down into the chasm and watched my platform raise. He yelled up at me from some sort of robotic vehicle, "Is that you, Sonic?" Then he went on to say something about me ruining his plans again, but I was just staring at him with my arms crossed, wondering if I should trust this guy. I mean, he was completely oblivious, that much was clear. Maybe I could trick him into getting my my revenge for Maria... "Wait, you're not Sonic! Who are you?!" I heard him shout as I zoned back in.

"My name is Shadow. Since you were so kind to release me, my _master_, I will grant you one wish."

He was silent for a moment before repeating back to me, "_Wish_?"

I began to doubt him as I jumped down and got a better look. He looked like a lazy, adult male with an obviously fake mustache. In fact, he looked like a clown. Maybe I shouldn't have just jumped to the first human I saw in fifty years. But then again, he _had_ been the one to release me from this cryogenic chamber. I decided to put him to the test, nonetheless.

"Meet me in the central control room of the Space Colony ARK." With that, I began to walk away.

"_ARK_?"

I wanted to turn around and say, "Yes, you idiot! That's what I said!" But I didn't. Instead, I kept walking, destroying a huge guard robot that seemed to be mumbling something via radio about being called "Hot Shot", with a Chaos Spear. Whatever, I didn't have time for games.

I teleported to the ARK and waited for him. Deciding to take a walk, I passed my room, just a dirty little area with cages sprawled about. It was where most of the living experiments were kept. Then I passed the main lobby and chuckled a bit, looking in and remembering awkwardly dancing with Maria to ballads at my eighth birthday party. That was also where we met that monster by the name of- well, that was all in the past now. I tried not to dwell on those kinds of thoughts, even though it broke my heart just to have been standing there.

Pain and nostalgia began to glide through me in a wave as I passed Maria's room. I tried not to open the door and look in, but I couldn't help it. There, everything was exactly the way we had left it fifty years ago, except coated in dust. Against my own willpower, I couldn't fight the urge to slowly walk inside and take a look around. I saw the armoire she had stood in front of on the day of my previously mentioned birthday, head-to-toe in gorgeous formalwear. She made it obvious that super sparkly dresses were not her style, but I remembered thinking that she would look beautiful in anything.

Then I pried my eyes away and spun around, staring at the light blue bed where we often sat. She used to lean against the backboard with me and we would study things together, whether it was pictures of nature or just some of her homework. I always had fun, even if I could never help her with it. Then there would be the times where we sat on the floor and looked out the window, fantasizing about what it would be like to live on Earth.

Before I knew it, twenty minutes had passed and I was still going through memories. "That's why I need my revenge for her!" I said aloud, "So the humans can pay for what they did to her!"

Something pulled at my mind as I said that, something I couldn't quite place, but I soon dismissed it as nothing and continued to imagine destroying the human race. I finally managed to take myself out of the room as I thought about this, and strolled casually down the halls once again. I stopped in front of one last room.

The central control room.

That's where I said I'd meet him, so I walked in and stood in front of the window, trying to think about the orbit of the moon and the angle of the sun instead of what happened fifty years ago in this room.

But like all my other temptations, I gave in.

Swinging around, I realized that I was standing in the exact spot where Maria died. I took a few quick steps backward in shock and tripped on my own two feet, abruptly crashing to the ground. I got up on my hands and knees and tried not to gag as it all came flooding back to me. I leaned against a glass object for support as I got up but then saw that it was an escape pod, and freaked out again. Luckily, I didn't trip this time as my mind went a thousand miles a second and I sped away. When my episode pulled to a halt, I was on the other side of the room, panting.

"It's okay, Shadow! Take a deep breath! I'm right here."

Her voice calmed me as I remembered how I could hear her. "Maria..." I mumbled her name, but soon stopped talking. I wanted to tell her what I was feeling, but wasn't sure how to describe it.

"I know, it pains me too..."

"Has it really been... fifty years since I last saw you for real?" I asked her after I caught my breath.

"Yes. But it feels like it was longer to me."

"The whole time I was asleep in that place, where you... just waiting?"

She didn't answer. I knew it was true.

"I'm so sorry!" I stared down at my hands, shaking my head. "So sorry, so sorry..."

"No, no, no! It's not your fault! Don't you dare blame yourself for this."

"I'm so sorry!" I repeated, unable to stop the flow of regret. I stomped the floor so hard that a crack flew through the tile under my foot, splitting it into two pieces. "Fifty years! I'll get you revenge, Maria! I'll get you revenge!"

"...What? NO! Shadow, I thought we've been over this, I DON'T WANT RE-"

Suddenly, she was cut off from me, similarly to when I was in the cryogenic chamber. I whimpered and stared at the severed tile for a minute or two, until I lifted my head up and looked out the window again, careful of where I stood. I blinked a few times, trying to clear my head. "Life is so hard..." I muttered to myself.

A few hours passed before I finally heard heavy footsteps coming from the hallway. I watched the fat man's heavy complexion in the dark window as he approached me. "Hello, Shadow. I've come. What now?"

I chuckled. It was a fake gesture, but I figured confidence would do me some good. "You never told me _your_ name." I said, expressionless.

"Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik, but that's _Dr._ Eggman to you."

I laughed again, but this time, I meant it. "_Eggman_? Why the hell do you call yourself that?"

He sighed in annoyance. "I'm not getting into that right now."

"Fine then, Doctor." I refused to address him with something so absurd. For now, I would simply call him by the first half of what he gave me.

"So then, what is it that you wanted me to meet you here for?"

Okay, I'll admit it. This wasn't just a test to bring him here. It was also going to be a great way to get vengeance. "Follow me." I led him into a secret room in the back of the lab that I had found long before I even met Maria.

The doctor gasped. I smirked.

Then, knowing exactly what he was thinking, I explained, "It's called the Eclipse Cannon."


	6. Friendly Introductions

_Alright, people! Chapter six is up! But, let me warn you: This is based off of Sonic Adventure 2, but it's not going to be exactly the same. I don't really want to follow the storyline perfectly, but everything should go down similarly. Just so you all know, because the last time I completely played through that game, I was probably eight, and as much as I could just go and play the whole thing again, we all know that I don't really want to do that. This'll be my own little remix. Yeah, let's call it that..._

* * *

"This object can pierce stars," I began, turning to him wickedly, "so it can certainly destroy the Earth."

He smiled. "Then I could build my empire in its place! My grandfather truly was a genius!"

The shock must have been obvious on my face. "W-what did you just say?"

"That's right! Gerald Robotnik was my grandfather! That's why I was so shocked when you said to meet me on the ARK. I released you because I wanted to get my hands on the secret government weapon that my grandfather had been working on for so many years!"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and narrowed my eyes. "...Really?"

"Yes! I can prove it to you! Maria Robotnik was my cousin!"

My mouth hung open in shock, and before I could say anything, things got weirder.

"Hey there!"

We both jumped as we discovered a female bat was hanging from the rafters above us. "How'd you get in here?!" I screamed.

"Hitched a ride on the spaceship that just landed on this colony. The pilot didn't even notice!" She chuckled a bit, and the doctor's face went pale.

"Nice going, 'Eggman'..." I muttered.

"Don't worry, I'm just here to help. I know you're going to need it!" She suddenly showed us from behind her back a similar jewel to the one I had seen fifty years ago, except it was green.

Again, I could feel my Chaos Energy react with it, and held up a hand. Its reaction was the same as the last jewel I had seen. "What is that strange gemstone?" I asked as I watched her eyes widen at what I had just done.

"It's a Chaos Emerald. There are seven of them." She said, jumping onto the ground and walking toward me. "When put together, they contain unlimited power, but just one is a great advantage in itself."

"Wow." I breathed, holding my hand out for her to give it to me. She hesitated, but I looked her in the eyes and she gave it over. I felt great just holding the item. It was as if I had just drank five cups of coffee, and the energy was stirring inside of me. "Chaos Control!" I yelled, instantly being taken to the other side of the room. Instead of a slight power drain, I felt just as good as before, and could've sworn that the object even gave me better accuracy when warping.

I looked back at the bat girl, and she was standing there in complete awe, muttering something into a walkie-talkie as she continued to stare.

"Who are you?" I yelled from across the room, realizing she never gave me her name. "What do I address you as?"

"Rouge. Rouge the Bat."

I chuckled. What was with all the strange names of this time period? "Rouge? As in, makeup?"

She stared for another minute before replying, "...Sure."

"Okay then. I'm Shadow the Hedgehog." She nodded and held out a hand for me to shake, which I refused. She dropped her arm back down as I walked past her and back to the doctor.

"I have a Chaos Emerald too." He admitted, "I used it to get you out of the cryogenic chamber. It's in my ship, let me go get it." He left, leaving Rouge and me alone.

"From what I heard of the conversation between you two, this is the Eclipse Cannon, right?" Rouge asked, motioning to the giant machine with seven holes in its front.

"Yes." I replied, "But I wasn't sure how to power it until now. Those slots look like they'll fit the Chaos Emeralds."

"Couldn't agree more. Why don't you put that one in it?" She asked.

"No, I don't need to do that yet. It only needs the power for a full-throttle strike. We could do plenty of damage without them."

"Okay, then, can I have my emerald back?" She asked. I shook my head.

"I think I'll need it more than you would." I muttered. She raised an eyebrow.

"Just gonna steal from me, like that. From a lady!" She joked. At least, I figured she was joking.

"Yep." I walked away, leaving her there as I approached the far wall again. "Chaos Control!" I was off to test this amazing new power.

I forgot that we were waiting on the doctor, but I was sure Rouge would fill him in.

Unfortunately, the only place I knew on Earth was Prison Island, so when I looked around, that's where I was. The escape pod was still exactly where I left it, in the middle of the jungle, except it was broken down, and covered in dirt and plants. I began to explore a bit until I came across the building that I had seen so long ago. It was so new and unscathed when I last saw it, but now it looked much more weather-beaten and dirty, just like the escape pod.

It didn't take long for me to decide not to go inside. I didn't want to be put back into that chamber again. "Hmm..." I looked up into the sky, then down at my shoes. I wanted to explore Earth a little more before and get some insight on the human race before I returned to the ones that were waiting for me on the ARK.

Suddenly, I heard a deafening roar start up and saw an airplane zooming down the runway. _Maybe that plane is going to more humans!_ I thought as I skated up next to it and jumped onto one of the wings. The wind was so strong once we got into the sky that my spikes were blown straight back behind my head and I had to blink tears out of my eyes, but I could handle it. I just knelt down and kept a firm hold on the wing of the small jet and waited until I could see land. After an hour or two, a wide shore came into view. I could see endless rows of huge buildings and figured it was some sort of city.

When the plane began to land on the runway, I decided to wait a minute before jumping off, because the sun had started to set and the sky was filled with beautiful oranges and reds. It was the first sunset I had ever seen, and it was almost as stunning as Maria herself. I stood up tall and slowly released the wing of the plane from my grasp, spreading my arms out beside me like a scarecrow.

I felt so free, right at that moment, that I forgot for a split-second everything that I had gone through. Every little conflict was nothing for such a short period of time, but it was worth it. I. Felt. Amazing.

But then the plane jerked to a halt and I was thrown forward onto the concrete of the runway. "Agh!" I yelled as I hit my head with a thud.

Besides having some scratches and a really bad headache, I was alright as I got up and dusted myself off. It was nothing noticeable anyway.

I kicked on my shoes and strode off into the city as twilight fell. The waning gibbous form of Earth's moon was rising into the sky and I took in a breath of the nighttime air as a pain in my chest began to come back. "I wish Maria could experience this." I whispered to no one in particular.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?"

"Ah!" I jumped as the voice reverberated through my mind. I tripped and fell forward onto my stomach. "Maria, you can't scare me like that!" I muttered, relieved that there were no humans out right now.

"Whoops, sorry!"

"I can hear you giggling..."

She grew silent. I could just imagine watching her cheeks grow red. "I-"

"Apology accepted. Can I help you?"

"I think you mean, can _I _help _you_."

"That's what I said."

"Ugh. Nevermind. I'm your guardian angel, remember?"

"Oh. Right."

"Yeah."

An awkward silence followed her one-word response.

Luckily for us both, a unique male voice pervaded the block, followed by some robotic sounds. "Finally decided to show up, eh? Alright, bring it on!"

"Uh..." I waited for Maria to give an assumption.

"No idea." She admitted. I heard her blue shirt ruffle and guessed she was shrugging her shoulders.

I peeked around a building to see that it was a giant robot fighting an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog with spikes like mine, only they went down instead of up. I raised an eyebrow in curiosity as I watched the animal use super speed and skilled fighting moves to take the government weapon down. I showed my teeth in a wicked sneer, deciding I would play with him.

"Don't try anything, Shadow. I'm serious." Maria warned, "Not a good idea, if you were planning to run it by me at all." I ignored her and walked behind the fallen robot, standing up in the pile of rubble.

As soon as the blue creature looked up at me, I heard him gasp, "What?"

I held up the green Chaos Emerald in my hand. I decided to tell him what it was. "It all starts with this. A jewel containing the ultimate power." I held it high above my head and looked up at it. The moonlight reflected off of it and it sparkled.

"Hey, that's a Chaos Emerald!" his eyes suddenly narrowed after he said it. He must have gotten a better look at me after identifying the stone in my hand. "The military has been mistaking _me_ for the likes of _you_!" I grew confused by his words. Had the military been looking for me, but thought that this creature was me instead? Wow, humans really _are_ stupid. "So, where do you think _you're _going with that emerald?"

"..."

"Say something, you fake hedgehog!" He had begun running toward me at that supersonic speed of his, and I realized I had to act fast. I jumped off the scrap metal and skated toward this mysterious hedgehog, matching his speed. I held out my emerald as we passed each other, and realized it was by my own will that time began to slow down. I studied his face. He had determined, green irises that reminded my of the jewel I held. I could tell, just from the protective glare he gave me, that he was this town's hero. This was all in his eyes.

I sped time back up to normal speed and teleported to the top of a nearby building, chuckling. He mumbled something to himself about me not actually being as fast as him, about it just being my Chaos Emerald. I looked past him and saw a band of law enforcement vehicles approaching us, their lights flashing with alarm. "Farewell!" I yelled, leaving him to deal with the mob. I'd had my fun, but I felt like I'd be seeing him again...


	7. Face-Off With Sonic

When the Chaos Emerald brought me back to the ARK, I sighed. Rouge and the doctor where standing in front of the Eclipse Cannon, looking quite ticked off by my actions. "Do you know how long you were gone?" Rouge snapped.

"Uh, no. How long was I gone, Mother?"

She scoffed before stomping on my foot in her heels. I closed my eyes and bit my lip, feeling the power gather inside of me as a result of the anger and the throbbing of my foot. "Dammit!" I said under my breath. I looked back up at Rouge. "What's your problem?"

"My 'problem' is that you just left us here for four hours! If you want us to work with you, you're going to have to put in some team effort!"

I looked her over once and ignored her tirade. "Doctor, do you have a plan to acquire the rest of the Chaos Emeralds?" I asked the tall, round scientist.

"Indeed I do." He replied, "You see, I set up sensors around this planet a long while back, and I know where to get three of the emeralds, but it won't be easy."

"Where would that be?" I asked, "Nothing's too hard for me to do."

"Prison Island."

A look of shock ran over my face and I thought to myself, _No, no, no..._

"Yeah, I didn't expect you to know the place." He said, oblivious, as a thousand different emotions went through me. "It was where I rescued you from, actually."

"To be honest, I was there a few hours ago."

I realized at that point that Rouge had stomped up right behind me and was about to give me a lecture for ignoring her lecture, when she suddenly froze. The doctor froze too.

"Why?" He asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Where'd you expect me to teleport to? It's the only place I know on Earth. Well, besides an interesting city I discovered."

"Good, then you'll be more than familiar with the area. Here's the plan..." He began to explain to us what to do, and as excited as I was, I could hear Maria's voice in the back of my mind the whole time. Literally.

"Shadow, don't you dare do this! This isn't what I wanted! I thought you weren't going to get revenge! I thought you understood! Shadow..." But I could hardly hear her. She would be happy in the end anyway... right?

-XXX-

I skated through the white jungle at supersonic speed. The wristband I wore was sort of like a walkie-talkie, for communication. Just one of the doctor's inventions, and I didn't like it that much. It clung to my arm too tightly, and I didn't really need it for anything. all I had to do was plant the bomb and get out. It was set for fifteen minutes, so Rouge could grab all the Chaos Emeralds in the GUN base and for us both to get out and watch these idiotic humans be blown to nothing. I had nothing to worry about.

Until I saw _him_ again.

Soon the trees were too condensed for me to be able to skate on the jungle floor, so I jumped from tree branch to tree branch, just below the canopy. Suddenly, there was a clearing in the trees and I saw the strange blue creature from before. "That blue hedgehog again, of all places..." I said to myself, maybe a little too loudly because he looked up at me. I wondered what he was doing in the middle of the jungle, but I didn't have time to think about that because he was yelling up at me now.

"I found you, Faker!"

My eyes opened wide as he said this. What did he mean by "faker"? Was he a crazy imposter of the Ultimate Life Form or something? That would explain the similar complexion...

"Faker?" I asked, "I think _you're_ the fake hedgehog around here! You're comparing yourself to me? Hah! You're not even good enough to be my fa-"

I couldn't finish my sentence though because he interrupted me with, "I'll make you eat those words!" and before I knew it he jumped at me. He had curled into a spiky ball and was rushing toward me at an alarming speed. I teleported to the ground and he jumped down from the tree to be level with me.

The ground was swampy, and we were on a small island with water on all sides of us. We were stuck in this little square area together like we were in a boxing ring. I smirked. This was going to be easy... I thought so at the moment, anyway.

We had such similar moves. At the same time, we jumped to tackle each other and were knocked to the ground in unison.

"Ugh!"

"Agh!"

We both grunted at the same time too. Now it was just getting annoying. So, we both continued to attack and dodge, attack and dodge, attack at the same time, then get knocked down at the same time. Over and over, until we were sweating and panting and hoping the fight would be over soon. Suddenly, we stopped because my wristband beeped.

"Shadow! Get back here right now before the island blows up with you on it!" The doctor yelled angrily, static fuzzing out his tones slightly.

"What? Blows up?!" The hedgehog's eyes filled with fear. "I have to get Tails and Amy!"

I scoffed, remembering "Amy" as the pink hedgehog that hugged me a few minutes after arriving on the island. A yellow fox in a blue vehicle had come and retrieved her before I even got a chance to push her off. That was probably "Tails".

And that sentence about his friends the last thing I heard from the imposter before I ran in the opposite direction and kicked on my skates. I regrettably took one last look behind me, assuming I would never see him again, and he just glared in my direction, reaching out as if for help. _Sorry Faker,_ I thought, _but I just don't have time for you._

-XXX-

I was almost out. I could see the opening in the trees and the ocean in the distance. I could almost taste that salty air, and then I heard the beeping of my wristwatch. I wanted to smash it so badly as Rouge's voice could be heard through the static. I stopped in my tracks.

"Hey guys, this is Rouge. W-we have a problem. I'm trapped on the inside of the facility with the Chaos Emeralds. I guess I can't call myself a treasure hunter after all..."

It beeped again and the doctor began to speak. He gave an annoyed huff before saying, "Forget her, Shadow. We can pick the emeralds out of the rubble. Just get out of there!"

I didn't say anything. Just remained frozen. I wanted to leave her and guarantee myself a chance to survive, but then I thought, _That won't be the first person I couldn't save..._

"Shadow!" It was Maria. "I beg of you! Save her! Do it for _me_."

I sighed. "Troublemaker!" I yelled at Rouge, even though I hadn't held down the "speak" button on my wristband and I knew she couldn't hear me. Quickly, I turned around and ran back into the forest, knowing I couldn't spare a chance for absolution.


End file.
